A Modern Day Cinderella Solution
by pinkprincess1990
Summary: This story is basically as the title suggests, a modern day Cinderella twist on Harry Potter but in my own way. The books are disregarded in the sense that Harry and Ginny have never been romantically linked but they are best friends. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

A Modern Day Cinderella Solution

Summary 

Right well in a nut shell this is a HP/GW fic. First off I shall just say that in the world of my story Harry and Ginny have never been romantically linked AT ALL, but have been best friends since after the chamber incident, but became closer, as friends, after Harry defeated Voldemort. Also in my story Draco isn't the horrible person he is in the books. Right well summary, when Ginny Weasley's best friend Harry Potterwith her that she wasn't the type of woman/witch men generally fell in love with she bet him a thousand galleons that she would have a proposal of marriage within three months. She was turned from a tomboy into the sexy siren she had never known existed, one of the wizarding world's most eligible bachelor's moved in next door….and Harry began to realise that he'd made a big mistake. I'd just like to point out that the chapters will get longer after chapter 2, just bear with me. Oh and don't review just to tell me that you don't like it and you'll not read it again cos you'll just be wasting your time as well as mine. Oh and no flames please. ENJOY!

Chapter 1

"I'm going to kill him and hide him where not even 'Old Moldy Shorts' would have bloody found him," Ginny muttered, picking up her wand and apparating to The Burrow. "I'm going to get through this wedding without throwing up and then I'm going to hex him into oblivion."

She apparated into the kitchen of the burrow just a little too close to the dinner table. She whimpered. Her morning-after headache was punching at her brain like a prize-fighter.

Of all the days for the hangover from hell, this was the red-letter worst. Her mother was going to kill her.

She took a quick glance in the mirror on the kitchen wall, grimacing at the pale greenish cast to her face. "I'm going to kill him," she repeated.

She very rarely drank and had only ever experienced a hangover once before. She didn't remember how bad that had been, but it couldn't have

been as bad as this was. Nothing could be as bad as this was.

"There you are, Ginny," a male voice boomed from the kitchen door way. "We've all been waiting for little old you!"

She was so wrong. There was something worse. "I am going to kill you," she whispered.

Harry Potter smiled at her mischievously from the door way. He looked like his usual handsome self she noted with disgust. That summer glow that he seemed to keep all year long held no tinge of the post-party green that her skin seemed to. His green eyes weren't bloodshot either, but they were lit with devilish humour. His dark hair and bright smile made him look like he ought to be on the cover of Witch Weekly magazine. He looked, at that moment, as if he had spent last night curled up in bed, with a good book and a glass of warm milk, but she knew better, knowing perfectly well how he had spent the previous evening. He had spent it making sure she would be miserable this morning!

"Well, well, well." Harry eyed her curiously, meeting her halfway into the kitchen but wisely staying far enough away so as not to become within arm's reach of Ginny's wrath. "Feeling a little under the weather this morning are we?"

"Shut up. This is all your fault Potter." She gripped the kitchen table as if it was a life preserver, while her stomach felt as if it was doing a little dance, making her feel queasy. "By the way, is there a reason why you don't look how I feel? And also what possessed you to con me into crashing Ron's bachelor party, anyway?"

"Okay, first of all its called a hangover potion, suck it up GinGin. And, besides, what were your options? If you'd stayed at home with Hermione the bride, and her sidekick Fleur, you'd have gone crazy, well more so than usual anyway. Now that Lavender's getting married, you're the only one left." Harry laughed. "I do hope that you realise, of course, that now they're not going to rest until you're hitched."

She wished, so much that he was lying. The headache that was threatening exploded dully behind her eyes and her stomach constricted. "So genius here just thought 'ah the best way to prepare Ginny for the grilling coming tomorrow would be to….I know! Get her to watch a half-naked exotic dancer!"

"Actually, I just thought that I'd pour ten firewhisky shots down your neck, and that maybe it might just cheer you up for a few hours," he said with a grin. "Come on Ginny. Nobody held their wand to your head and made you drink."

"But you bet me!" She pointed her wand at him. "You bet me a month's worth of butter beer that I couldn't keep up with you. Now, in the name of all that is honourable in the female race, I just had to pop that inflated ego of yours."

"Honourable female race? Yeah, of course that's it," he said laughing. "Ginny, you've been this way since you were sixteen and you're now twenty four. You couldn't turn down a wager with me if your life depended on it."

"Wanna bet?" She glanced at him, then stuck her tongue out.

"I'd like to also point out, GinGin," his emerald eyes were twinkling with amusement, "that I've also been beating you since you were sixteen years old as well."

"I think you better shut up, Potter." She eyed him balefully. "Before I decide whether or not I'm going to throw up all over your brand new robes from Madam Malkin's."

"And wouldn't that go gorgeously with the décor," he quipped, glancing out into the back garden of the burrow.

Ginny moved to make her way to the door leading to the wedding and stopped in her tracks, assaulted by the overpowering floral scent. In the state of hangover that she was in, the smell almost knocked her straight off of her feet.

"Oh, Merlin." She started to take quick shallow breaths. "Oh God, not now."

"Eh? Oh shit. Just hang on Gin." Harry was at her side in an instant, the look of teasing on his face long gone and replaced by one of concern for his best friend. He steadied her with one strong arm. "Just take it easy now, your brother can wait a few more minutes. Can't have Hermione's chief bridesmaid stumbling down the aisle now can we?" His voice was low and comforting.

Ginny fought the urge to go and sit down on one of the kitchen chairs, but resisted knowing that if she did decide to sit down on one she'd never get back up in time for the wedding. "How does my future sister-in-law Hermione look?" She asked this more to get her mind off of her stomach than out of interest.

"She looks like she was trapped in a lace factory and it exploded all around her," Harry shrugged.

Ginny chuckled at this. Slowly but surely the pounding in her head and the churning in her stomach receded. "All I can say is that if her dress is as uncomfortable as this one then my heart really does go out to her."

"She's marrying your brother, I pity her already," Harry said, his face still showing concern for Ginny. "You feeling any better?"

"Not much but a little bit better," Ginny said sighing, "but it will have to do. The only things that I pray for today are that I can get through today without throwing up on anyone and also that I can avoid being asked the killer question."

He laughed. "You mean," he said, mimicking a nasal female voice, "'So, when are you getting married Ginny?'"

"Exactly." Ginny tired to ignore how this made her feel, even asked as a joke. It seemed like she'd been asked that question so many times for so long, by the same people, namely her mother and aunts.

When are you going to find yourself a nice boy, Ginny?

Why can't you be more like Hermione and Fleur, Ginny?

How do you ever expect to find yourself a man if you look like that all the time?

She was single by her own choice and nobody else's, Ginny told herself.

"Do you realise that you wouldn't be hit with these questions if you'd stop saying yes to being everyone's bridesmaid. How many times is this now? Four times?"

"No, only three," she corrected him, pulling herself stiffly upright.

"Oh, right. I hope you realise that after three times acting as bridesmaid your family is now going to hassle you even more than usual into becoming a bride yourself. Besides, Gin Gin, you've never been the type of girl that likes to sit and swoon over china patterns and floral arrangements. Why didn't you just sit this one out?"

"Uh, duh. Because it's Hermione and Ron's wedding Harry," she said crossly. "I maybe should have turned down Lavender and Seamus's wedding, I mean I don't really like her very much anyway, but I couldn't very well turn down Hermione and Fleur, they both married my brothers. I mean they were already pretty much family before they married into it. That includes you as well you know," she nudged him. She stood up and lurched to the entrance of the marquee outside the back door.

"I know, I know," Harry chuckled to himself.

"The point is, I'd do anything for my friends, Harry. You should know that. The only reason that I haven't murdered you yet is because you're one of my best friends." She smiled at him weakly. "But I swear it now, if you pull another stunt like last night's bet, saviour or no saviour, I won't be responsible for where my hex land. Got it Potter?"

"But of course, I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing?" Harry nodded solemnly, but the hint of a smile still haunted the corners of his lips.

When they both stepped fully into the marquee where all of the guests were seated, they saw ten pairs of eyes snap towards them eagerly, a pair of which belonged to Ginny's mother. All of Ginny's aunts and her mother homed in on her, calculating smiles on all of their faces.

"So I guess that you won't want to bet me a month's worth of chocolate frogs that you can avoid all of your aunts and your mother at the reception?" Harry whispered in her ear gleefully. "Before you got here I was talking to them all and I suggested that you may want to speak to them about any advice they may have for you when it comes to the man-hunting department."

"I think that we better make it two months," Ginny said through her gritted teeth, "and remind me that you need killing when all of this is over."

…

Oh and I'm a fanfiction virgin too so if you could tell me what you think that would be fab. Fankoooooo!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hi, sorry for the delay on chapter 2 but my internet has been a bit pants lately so been getting that sorted. Also I noticed on the last chapter that I forgot to put in a disclaimer so her it is:

I do not own Harry Potter nor will I ever, but not by choice believe me aha.

Oh and before I forget a BIG thanks to everyone that reviewed, I know it was only like 4 but seriously it made my day a good one so yeah many thanks. Oh and btw the chapters get a lot longer after this one so more to read. Yey! Right and now onto the actual chapter. Enjoy.

"I'm looking for Ginny," Harry yelled over the noise of the music and people laughing on the dance floor. "She disappeared on me straight after picture time. Don't suppose you've seen her at all?"

"Nah, sorry mate. Can't say I have," his friend Seamus Finnegan replied. He looked at his group of friends for a response but they all shook their heads no. "If you do see her though, tell her that we're having a few games of exploding snap round at Dean's."

Harry nodded to Seamus, "If anything would get her out of hiding, its a good old game of exploding snap, friendly competition and all that. Thanks."

He continued his slow tour of the marquee. He was so focused on tweaking Ginny out of her gloom and giving her something to do at this reception other than focusing on the dreaded 'killer question', that he had forgotten that he had recently become the target of the very same question. He'd been circling around the marquee for the best part of an hour now, looking for Ginny, whilst at the same time trying to avoid being singled out himself. Emphasis on the 'single'.

In a normal situation, he certainly didn't mind being stuck in a room filled with gorgeous single women. But this was a wedding which meant that this wasn't a normal situation, and the rules changed because of that. Dancing with a woman at a wedding had suddenly become tantamount to handing her a ring. But if he just kept Ginny by his side, then he may have a better chance of fighting off the hungry stares and blatant invitations from the females in Ron and Hermione's distant families. How typical was it that the only woman that he was looking for, out of the masses, was the one girl that certainly wasn't looking for him.

Harry sighed. Ginny might have been saying that she was ready to kill him but he didn't think that was her excuse for hiding. He felt that there was definitely more to Ginny's avoidance than frustration towards her family's gentle pressuring, or their inability to accept her tomboy ways. It was deeper than that. Whatever it was it was sending warning lights through his head. Even through all their pranks and bets, the bottom line was, she was still one of his best friends. If she was avoiding him for this length of time she wasn't angry with him, she was upset. And even if he had to drag it out of her (or bet it out of her), he was going to find out why.

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and he immediately tensed.

"There you are, Harry."

Harry turned around, grinning in relief. The last thing he wanted was to be pestered by anyone at the wedding of two of his best friends. "Hi Ron. So how does it feel being married to Mrs Hermione Weasley?"

Ron smiled, his brown eyes lighting up like candles. "To be honest, I've never been happier in my entire life mate."

"So you say now," Harry joked giving Ron a friendly punch on the arm.

"Trust me," Ron told him, "when the right girl comes along it'll hit you like a sack of spuds mate. Nothing in the world will feel more right to you. Nothing at all."

"I'll take your word for it, Ronald." Harry laughed. He shifted uncomfortably. "I feel like I'm surrounded by women who just want to be anybody's 'right girl'. I think weddings just seem to cause some strange chemical imbalance in women. If I asked one of these women if they'd like to run off with me to get married in some far away land they'd probably do it in a heartbeat." He looked around the room, shaking his head. "And they don't even know me!"

"Because nobody knows who the great Harry Potter is, do they? Besides not knowing you has got to be the only way that anyone would even consider standing next to you, let alone marry you," Harry heard Ginny mutter darkly behind him.

Harry spun around. "There you are..."

But he was too slow. In the time it had taken him to turn around she had already begun weaving her way through the crowd away from him. Before he could follow her, Ron spoke up.

"Was that Ginny?" Ron craned his neck around Harry to squint his eyes at her disappearing form. "Ya know, this morning when I saw her walking up towards me this morning I hardly recognised her at all with her hair in all those curls. And I actually don't remember the last time that the family saw her in a dress either."

"I can't imagine that the hangover helped much either," Harry added trying his hardest to track her down. "I forced her to the stag do last night and bet her that she couldn't drink as much as I could."

Ron scowled. "You brought a woman to my stag party, my sister no less?"

"No, I brought Ginny. There's a difference." When Ron still didn't look reassured, Harry shrugged. "I kept her off in the corner, Ron. Besides she been one of the guys for ages, and of what I can remember we didn't do anything remotely shocking last night did we?"

"Yeah but it's just the principle of it, Harry. Its supposed to be 'no girls allowed' remember?" Ron shook his head, finally allowing himself to laugh a little. "I swear if Hermione finds out something from last night that could come back and bite me in the ass, you'll have more than my sister on your case," Ron said with a smile on his face.

"Ah, she'll get over it. It might take a little longer than usual, but she will. Besides, some of the time, her practical jokes can be worse than mine." Harry laughed. "Did I ever tell you about the time that she—"

"Hi, Harry"

Both of the men turned to see a slinky blonde walking their way, staring straight at Harry with deep blue eyes. Her voice was husky, but slightly overdone and her mouth looked overly pouty as well.

"I've been watching you running around all night. You're missing out on a very good party. Wanna dance?"

Harry sighed. "Hi Pansy. Sorry but I'm looking for someone right now. Maybe later, yeah?" Like maybe in twenty years.

"Your sure?" she asked, making seductive little movements that did good things to the dress she was wearing. "I'm sure that whoever you're looking for could wait a little while longer for you, surely."

Harry sighed even harder. 'Ginny where the hell are you?' "Really, I'm sorry."

Pansy Parkinson pouted. "Suit yourself then."

"Ha. Go Harry!" Ron watched her shimmy away and then turned back to Harry. "Why did you turn her down anyway? She could have been an easy getaway."

"Are you kidding? She had 'Gold-digger' written all over her. No thank you. Besides I never liked her in school. Why was she invited anyway?"

"Yeah I don't think anyone really liked her either. And Hermione works with her up at Hogwarts. She the new muggle studies professor. Apparently she a changed woman and all that bollocks. She and Hermione get on really well. Besides it was only one dance anyway, you could have gone to look for Ginny later."

"Oh well. People come and people go, but what you must always remember is that friends are forever. If I stick to that I think that I'll, literally, have the perfect life"

"That does sound pretty darned good but I'm a married man now so what can I say. Plus you have one slight problem to that equation."

"Yeah I know. At the moment that problem comes in the form of your sister, Ginny," Harry conceded. "But she never stays too mad at me for too long anyway. She'll soon be feeling much better when she gets even with me."

"The problem, Harry my man," Ron said smugly, patting him on the shoulder, "is that one of these days you are going to fall in love. And that will be the day that your perfect life goes down the pan. That also will be the day you need more than just friendship"

"That will never happen." Harry winked. He had just caught sight of Ginny talking to a group of women to the side of the dance floor. "Everything is totally under control."

But before Harry could make a move towards where Ginny was stood, the swarm of women came rushing over to where him and Ron were standing.

"Oh its just so wonderful what you're going to do Mr Potter," one of the women started gushing to him.

He just stood there and blinked at her in confusion. "What is?"

"That you really desperately want to adopt a young child that was orphaned from the war and that you're going to ask someone to marry you tonight!"

Over the beaming, hopeful faces of the women in front of him he could see, over at the other side of the room, Ginny grinning at him from ear to ear.

"Yep," Ron said, patting him on the shoulder. "I can really see that you've got it all under control."


End file.
